Renewal
by serafina19
Summary: How do you save someone who doesn't want to be saved?
1. Prologue

**Fic Warning**: Coarse language, eventual adult content, canon up to Turbulence, spoilers for Doomsday and areas of season 9.

_Sera's Scribbles: I've had this sitting on my computer for almost a month. I thought about holding off for awhile, but I figured if I get the ball rolling then I'll be able to write this one again. I know it's short, but I have a lot in store for this fic._

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

Renewal.

It can mean to give somebody or something new energy, strength, or enthusiasm

It can mean to begin something or doing something again, or be begun again.

It can mean to make something effective for a longer period.

No matter how you define the word, renewal usually implies that something has been used up, or is close to giving out. It's easy to renew a lease, a library book, but how do you renew a person? How do you tell someone to believe in people again? How do you tell her that it's good to see the good in everyone after what happened? How do you tell her that she has to accept the fact that she has ended someone's life and move on?

You don't. You do what you think you should, but you also know how strong she is, so you allow her to recover at her own pace.

She eventually agrees to come back to work, with new software and in a new building, and you make sure to check on her. But as she continues to play her business face, you begin to forget is the emptiness she feels inside, the loneliness she knows. Even though you've done your best, that doesn't change the fact that her cousin disappeared without a trace, nor does it change the fact her best friend decided to give up on his human side, leaving her without saying goodbye at a time when she needed him the most.

That leaves you and your band of misfit vigilantes, or heroes, depending on your preference. Regardless of the definition, you're still the people who know her the least, because despite the professional understanding you share, the personal connection isn't good enough to fix her.

Fix her. It makes her sound like an object, but the truth is within the few months she's been on the team full-time, she's probably the most invaluable member. But she doesn't believe that, she doesn't believe anything except that she pissed away her marriage, and in a way, everything, for a serial killer whose life was ended by her hand.

So how do you save someone who doesn't want to be saved?


	2. Comfortably Numb, Part One

**Segment Summary**: While trying to pick up the pieces of the Doomsday debacle, Oliver and the JL try to get Chloe over her own memories of that night.  
><strong>Segment Timeline<strong>: Doomsday- Pandora  
><strong> Segment Rating<strong>: T

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><p><em>Come on now, I hear you're feeling down<em>  
><em>Well, I can ease your pain, get you on your feet again<em>

"Comfortably Numb"— Pink Floyd

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><p><strong>Comfortably Numb<strong>

At the sound of the gunshot, Oliver quickened his pace towards the door, It wouldn't have surprised him if he took the door right off its hinges, but the lack of sound following the shot had worried him. Turning his head, he soon realized why.

The baseball bat falling from his hand, Davis fell to his knees, seconds from his death, "Why?" was the only word that left his lips before his head hit the floor.

Oliver looked around and saw Bart unconscious not far from where he was standing, and while part of him wanted to run over and check to see if Bart was okay, instead he was haunted by her face.

The bookcase entranceway had been pulled back, and in front of the main console stood Chloe, her breathing still irregular, and numerous tears streaming down as she realized what she had done, the accumulation of everything she had tried to save. Throwing the gun away from her, she crossed her arms over her chest, gripping her arms tightly. At this point, Oliver couldn't even begin to imagine what was going on in her head, so he carefully walked towards her, hoping he wouldn't scare her.

His movement was what got her to notice his presence. "Ollie," she said, her eyes widening as she bit her lip, trying to keep the tears under control. As he got closer, she stopped trying and let them fall before whispering, "I had to."

"I know Chloe," he replied, bringing himself close enough that he can reach his hand to her shoulder, but far enough to keep his distance. "It was self-defence."

She wanted to say that he was right, but Chloe could still see Davis' arm despite Oliver standing in front of her, and it was enough for her to admit the opposite. "But I still killed him. I... I wanted to... but he..." Eventually, Chloe gave up on coherent thoughts and buried her face in her hands.

As much as he hated to admit it, Oliver felt lost right now. Sure, he had taken his time down the morally gray of killing for the greater good, but what on Earth was she supposed to tell her? Chloe, who had quickly become the rock of his team, who saw the good in everyone, was breaking, and Oliver couldn't think of anything he could do to make it better. She just killed a man, and no amounts of words would erase that mental image from her brain.

So he wrapped his arms around her, therefore taking Davis' body fully out of her eye-sight. Patting her head, he soothingly shh'd her, hoping she would relax. Eventually, they came to the floor together and just sat there, time ticking away.

After a while, Bart came to, eyes widening at what he had thought he let happen. There wasn't a lot he could have done, but Bart couldn't help but blame himself. The last thing the younger man ever wanted was to cause Chloe pain in any form.

"Chloe?" he said, getting both of the blondes' attention. It was a surprise to see Bart up so fast, but it was the way he addressed Chloe that really caught Oliver's attention. Chloe, not some cutesy nickname, and his tone pretty much set the scene. It wasn't everyday that Bart wasn't the light-hearted one of conversations, but today, even he knew better than to joke around.

"Don't," Chloe managed, just barely shaking her head as she pulled herself out of Oliver's arms. "I'm okay," she said unconvincingly, hoping it would calm the younger man down, but it didn't.

Hearing the sirens in the background, Oliver and Bart glanced at each other, knowing that they would have to leave her at some point. They hated the idea, but they couldn't risk their identities being exposed, especially because with all the wreckage, they had no time frame for when they would arrive. Oliver attempted to stand up, but she grabbed his hand desperately.

"Please," she whispered through her tears, "I don't want to be alone."

Oliver couldn't even see her eyes and he was caving. He looked around, wondering what was taking Clark so long to come and see her, but the truth was that she needed someone, and even though Oliver knew he was unlikely her first choice, he had to stay.

Looking over at Bart, he calmly asked, "Can you grab a suit for me from home... make it quick."

Bart didn't need to be told twice, as he zipped out of the room, leaving the two blondes together for a couple minutes.

"Go ahead," Chloe said as she pulled herself up, "Say I told you so."

"No," Oliver replied, looking back towards her, but she had too turned away. "This isn't what I wanted Chloe. I never wanted you to..." His words trailed, realizing that in a way, she was right. The way Oliver talked about getting rid of Davis Bloome, this was the sort of thing he had in mind. But he never wanted Chloe to be the one to pull the trigger; he didn't want to see her like this.

"If I knew this was how this was going to end, I would have never said that."

"You're lying," Chloe whispered back. "You would do whatever it took to save the world; it's why you killed Lex."

"Don't compare what I did to this Chloe... this is different."

Finally peering back in his direction, she scoffed lightly. "That's not what you said when you found out about Sebastian Kane."

Oliver opened his mouth to respond, but they both heard a gust of wind and saw Bart standing over them with Oliver's suit.

"Medics are on their way up... hurry."

Oliver nodded and started to put his suit over his leathers. Realizing that he couldn't exactly fit the vest under the shirt, he shrugged it off. "Don't suppose I can ask you to take this away?"

"It's fine," Bart replied, taking the vest from Oliver's hands. "I'll let everyone know what happened and tell them to keep their distance for now."

"Thanks Bart."

He ignored Oliver to walk towards Chloe, taking her hand up to his lips. "Stay strong 'licious... I'll be back."

Bart had said his words with a grin, hoping for a smile of any kind, but instead Chloe only nodded right before Bart sped away.

To be honest, Oliver had half-expected the continuation of their previous conversation, but any animosity she might have had was replaced by fear as her whole body began to tremble. "What do I tell them?"

"The truth... he tried to attack you, you were only trying to protect yourself. The rest they don't need to know."

"But the computers... the database..."

"They don't need to see this," Oliver replied, taking Chloe's hand to take her out of the room before aligning the bookcases again. "It isn't pertinent." He turned again to see that Chloe had walked back into the main area... as far away from Davis as her legs would take her, before sitting back down on the floor. Oliver knew the recovery process wouldn't be easy, but he sat in front of her, ensuring that she couldn't see the body, and looked her straight in the eyes. "Chloe, I'll be right here with you, and I'll be here as long as you need me."

Oliver only hoped that would be enough.

It wasn't long before they found themselves with company. Cops came through the door first, asking both of them what had happened, followed by medics reassuring Chloe and ensuring she was alright. Eventually, Emil came through the door and politely told everyone that he would take control of the situation for now.

The cops were easily convinced, as they seemed satisfied with the reports Oliver and Chloe told them, and they filed out. Davis being the Corn Field serial killer and all, they found no need to do any further work. It was almost a shame that the man would be defined by things that were beyond his control, but it wasn`t Doomsday attacked Chloe mere minutes ago, it was Davis.

Regardless, as everyone left, Oliver mouthed _Thanks _to him, knowing that right now, Chloe needed a familiar face, rather than incessant reminders.

Oliver watched as Emil talked with Chloe, keeping enough distance to give her reassurance that he wasn't eavesdropping, but he was genuinely worried about her. He saw Emil give her a single nod and a half-smile before turning to Oliver, and based on his expression, things didn't look too good, but that was no surprise. After all she had gone through to protect Davis, only to shoot him... it wasn't the ending anyone was looking for.

"She needs supervision, but she refuses to go to the hospital," Emil told Oliver. "I tried calling Lois on my way here, but she's not responding... neither is Clark."

"Got it... I'll do my best."

"She's fragile Oliver," Emil replied, seeing the agitation in Oliver's face the moment he said it.

Keeping his cool, Oliver took a deep breath, knowing that there was no point rationalizing or arguing with anyone right now, especially Emil, with Chloe nearby. "I know."

"Call me if anything happens."

Oliver nodded, and then watched as Emil left Isis, but not before taking one last look back at Chloe, who had grown quiet since she had to repeat the same story over and over again, embedding the memory further into her brain.

Offering her his hand, he said calmly, "Okay Chloe, let's get you out of here."

As Oliver walked her outside of the office, there were people coming back in to look over the crime scene, and Chloe almost felt sick as she remembered what had happened. The dried blood on her hands, the small tear on her jacket, all the reminders, the repeated words were continuing in her head.

She had enough.

At the entrance of the building, she stopped suddenly, as she almost became like a zombie just idly walking in the lobby. Chloe blinked a couple of times, and looked up at Oliver, whose concern hadn't wavered since she first spotted him.

"We'll stop by that coffee vendor you like on the way back okay? You probably could use a little caffeine right?"

He was trying, Chloe could give him that, but even if the vendor was up and running, she knew not even coffee could erase the stain of this memory, so she shook her head and continued towards the doorway.

All she had worked towards, all that she had sacrificed, gone... by her hand no less. Her marriage, down the drain, her ex-husband more than willing to skip town minutes after the ink dried on the divorce papers. She had told her best friend to forget about her... which apparently he had as the only person she hadn't seen since she split Davis was Clark... and Lois. But Chloe hoped she was off for a story.

She always figured after a dose of the Zatanna dust that she had found her purpose, but maybe she had it all wrong. She tried to save Davis, find the good inside of him so he could embrace it, and all it resulted in was a downpour of blood. The proof was the sight on the streets as they exited the building.

Cars overturned, smashed windows, and various people lying on the streets, medics scrambling to help them. Sounds weren't much better, as between the sirens and screams that filled the air, Chloe instantly plugged her ears, and tried to calm her breathing once more.

This was her fault too, the consequence of splitting man from beast.

She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling the tears coming back, but she soon felt the weight taken off her feet. Eyes sliding open, she took notice of Oliver carrying her in his arms while his eyes firmly found hers.

He sighed at her expression, knowing what thoughts would be roaming her mind. "Don't look at this Chloe... just relax."

Right after he said those words, Oliver wanted to roll his eyes. That was easy for him to say, but he knew Chloe felt guilt in what happened here. She had stopped cold the moment the door shut, eyes wide open in fear and remorse, and he had a feeling if there was anything other than coffee in her system, she might have lost it.

Emil was right, but she was much more fragile than both men thought, so Oliver knew he had to get her off the streets. He stared down at Chloe again, who had taken his advice and rested her head against his shoulder. He noticed the twitching of her eyebrows each time a scream broke out, so Oliver tried to hurry up to the clocktower. It was odd though, Oliver had done this walk a thousand times... but those few blocks were the longest in his life.

When he did finally reach the doors, he took one final look and shook his head. This was the consequence of the team not working together, of having trust issues, regardless of whether they were deserved or not.

After Chloe split Davis and everyone were knocked unconscious, they didn't have a lot of time to spare. If it wasn't for Bart's metabolism, everything would have been much worse. He recovered from the blow first, speeding away to pull the dart from Clark and bringing him to the facility.

It was then that Oliver faced his betrayal, but Clark, wanting to talk business as always, only asked Oliver if he should trust him now. He replied _yes _without any hesitation, hoping that together they could handle Doomsday.

Dinah volunteered to stay behind to detonate the explosives while Bart took Chloe and Davis back to Isis for protection. Oliver helped the people on the streets, while Clark took care of Doomsday. It wasn't the perfect strategy, but it seemed to work in the pinch.

It had been five, maybe ten minutes since Dinah confirmed the explosion, that Oliver was approaching Chloe's Isis office, but it had been enough time to pull the final trigger.

After the elevator gate to his penthouse opened, Oliver put a still-scared Chloe down on the couch, leaving her only momentarily to read the note left on the clock face.

_I put away your gear... clothes for Chloe on your desk._

_Thanks Bart_, Oliver thought as he looked back at Chloe, who had brought her knees to her chest as she looked out the window.

Walking back towards the couch, he knelt down in front of her. "You're going to get through this Chloe," he said with optimism, only to watch her ignore him, shivering as the moment likely replayed in her mind.

Oliver hated to leave her eyesight in that moment, but he had to. Going down the hallway, he tracked down a blanket and promptly walked back. When he saw her still there, he sat down next to Chloe, draping the blanket over her body.

As he sat there, he half considered calling Clark to tell him about everything, but with Bart circulating around, he should have gotten the message by now. There couldn't be anything else wrong or else Oliver would have received notice from Bart, and that wasn't the case.

So Oliver cursed internally, wondering what could have been more important to Clark than the state of his best friend. She had sacrificed so much, dealt with Davis, killed Davis, all because she wanted to help Clark, and where was he now?

Of course that wasn't the only reason. Clark was also better at this, saying the right things to cheer someone up. Oliver knew he had screwed up too much to even have a hope of making her feel better, but right now, he was all Chloe had, so he had to try.

Oliver reached out, touching his hand delicately to her shoulder, wondering if she would pull away. She didn't, so he shuffled over, fully wrapping his arm around her now, allowing Chloe to rest her head against her chest. He knew words had little meaning right now, so he silently held her, praying that there was some way Chloe would find sleep tonight.

**~0~**

Upon sensing the sunlight on his eyes, Oliver blinked himself awake, only to find out he was alone on the couch. Frantically looking around, he realized that Chloe must have left, but by the state of the garment bag on his desk, she hadn't changed.

Within seconds, he was in the elevator, wondering what the heck she was doing. There was no reason she was supposed to be out right now. He was tempted to call Emil, as he wondered where she'd go, but the moment he saw the wreckage... he knew.

The streets had been cleaned up a little, and it killed Oliver to walk by the people screaming for help, but he couldn't abandon her right now.

This time, the blocks seen to fly by, and sure enough, inside the main area of Isis stood Chloe. The police tape was still intact, but the evidence of what happened still there. The gun, shells, and baseball bat were nowhere to be found, but the dried blood, the relative outline of where Davis lay remained, and it was all Chloe needed.

"We'll set up somewhere new," he said, surprising her. "You never have to go back here again,"

It was then that Chloe faced Oliver head on, and although there was no sign of tears, there was still a sense of terror in her eyes. Shutting them, she walked towards Oliver, leaning her head against his chest.

Patting her back, Oliver leaned his head down to rest on hers. "Come on, I'm going to get you something to eat."

**~0~**

He had been tempted to take her somewhere, but in the end, breakfast was served on the balcony, high above the trauma below. Based on the view, it was just any other day, and that was part of the reason Oliver decided against a restaurant. However, Oliver also had a feeling she wouldn't eat much, and sure enough within a couple of bites, she pushed her plate aside.

"You have to eat."

Chloe didn't respond, didn't even acknowledge his comment, just stared ahead at the skyline, blinking as the wind blew the hair from her face. Never had she looked so lost to him, in fact, Oliver had never seen Chloe look defeated like she did now.

He couldn't blame the look, the feeling, but he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. He had been in Chloe's shoes once, but the situation was very different. In fact, his initial solution had been to forget all about it, but that didn't work. Killing Lex ate away at his conscious because Oliver was supposed to be the good guy. The twisted thing was that Oliver didn't regret it. Lex was gone, he couldn't hurt anyone anymore, and that was a good thing, no matter the cost. It's what Oliver had to believe because no matter what he did, he couldn't change his past decisions.

That was the problem with Chloe, she had made some questionable calls, but she had the best intentions, she always did. That was why Chloe had been determined to remind Oliver of what he stood for, despite what he had done. It was that belief that kept Oliver from turning back to his old ways.

"Don't you have work?"

Oliver was almost surprised by her words, as they were the first he had heard in a really long time. Managing his signature grin, he hoped he could lighten the mood, even for a second. "Even billionaire CEO's can take a day off."

"Why do you care Ollie?"

_So much for that theory, _Oliver thought, pursing his lips as he deliberated an answer. The truth is that Oliver knew that he owed Chloe, but for now, he knew those were wasted words.

When Oliver hadn't responded, she added, "You don't have to do this, be so nice about it. There's no need to clean up my mess."

"A lot of this is my mess too." It may have seemed like a lie, as Oliver was distant in all this, but the distance was his own doing. As much as Chloe wanted to believe in him, she didn't trust him. So when Jimmy left and she was forced to hide Davis, she was convinced she was alone. There's no way of knowing what might have happened, but maybe things could have gone smoother if she had enlisted his help.

His response had surprised Chloe, and instead of a witty retort, she ate a couple more bites, pausing as she realized they had cooled down, but chewed and swallowed regardless. She couldn't remember the last time she had actually sat down and eaten an actual meal.

While she was out with Davis, Chloe survived on granola bars and coffee, as they spent much of their time driving, living with their heads over their shoulders. They were never supposed to be found, but they had, and everything went downhill from there.

She could no longer calm the beast, she separated man from beast, and then she was sloppy enough to reveal to Bart that she was just trying to protect Clark, the guys, and the world. Davis was supposed to be unconscious, but within seconds, Bart was knocked unconscious with the baseball bat that she kept in Isis, and terrified by the reaction, Chloe remembered stumbling back to the console, desperately hoping it was still there.

The gun wasn't hers, it was Lana's, as she was worried Lex's cronies would come after her at some point. Chloe never thought she would actually need it, but she pointed it at Davis, telling him to stop.

_"So this was all a lie? A way to protect Clark?"_

The answer was simple, but Chloe couldn't find words as her hands trembled as she held the gun in front of her.

_"I loved you Chloe. I thought you loved me too."_

The gun hadn't fazed him, he kept walking towards her. Chloe whispered _Stop _a couple more times, but Davis didn't listen, and the bat was still gripped in his hands.

He got too close for comfort, and she fired.

_Bang._

"Chloe! Chloe, look at me."

Blinking a couple times to regain her surroundings, Chloe noticed Oliver shaking her shoulders. "Hey," she whispered, looking at him, hoping he'd stop. "Sorry about that."

He breathed a sigh of relief as he wrapped his arms around her. "You scared me, sidekick."

"What did I do exactly?"

"You just started whispering stop... I didn't know what else to do."

With her head resting on her shoulder, Chloe sighed. "He wouldn't... I told him to, but he kept coming." Squeezing him tighter, Chloe shook her head. "Why Ollie? Why didn't he stop?"


	3. Comfortably Numb, Part Two

**Part 2**

Hearing the beep once again, Oliver began his message. "Lois, it's Oliver... and before you pull the stalker line on me for calling you five times in two hours," he said, pausing for a second as he covered his eyes with his hand, "it's just that Chloe really wants to see you. Call me back okay?"

Slamming his phone shut, Oliver wanted to curse, but knowing that Chloe was finally sleeping got him to stop. But it was also the thought of the blonde in his guest room that made Oliver realize that this was going to be harder than he thought. If he didn't know any better, Lois was missing.

Oliver had called Victor, asked him to go through hospital records but nothing had come through. Various calls to the _Planet_ and other places Lois would be also came up empty-handed. Hitting his fist on the table, Oliver immediately regretted his decision as he felt his nerves tingling, but that was almost lost in his thought process, as nothing made sense right now.

They had paid their dues already, seen the consequences of their actions, and Oliver thought it was supposed to get easier from here. However, between Clark and Lois being missing in action, and the overwhelming guilt of each members of the team, that looked far from the case.

In fact, Oliver was so tangled up that he didn't hear the elevator chain rattling, nor the gate opening. No, the only reason he knew that someone had entered the penthouse was seeing a different pair of hands on his desk.

"How is she?" Dinah asked, prompting Oliver to sit up properly to look at the woman in front of him.

"Not great, but she's sleeping, which I consider progress."

She momentarily looked towards the hallway before looking at him, taking note of the dark circles under his eyes. "You should consider doing the same Oliver... you don't look so good."

"Nah," he said, "I'm fine."

Dinah was far from convinced, but she knew better than to push him further. Oliver was about as stubborn as they came, so any further word would have been a pointless battle, so she got right to business. "Just so you know, Bart's with Emil... between the two blows, he got a nasty concussion. He barely got to the news to me the other night."

"Wait, then does Clark know about what happened to Chloe?"

Dinah shrugged, as initially she wasn't sure how to answer the question. She exhaled loudly as she found her words, "I tried calling him, but it was just voicemail... now the number's disconnected." Looking into his eyes, she knew it wasn't the answer he wanted to hear, but unfortunately, Dinah had more bad news. "No response on the com either."

Oliver nodded, taking in all that Dinah had given him. Clark was gone, that much was clear. Why and how were questions that went through his head, but answers at this point were just theories, and theories wouldn't help anyone.

Wanting a change in conversation, Oliver gestured his hand in her direction. "And how about you?"

"A little worse for wear, but not too bad," Dinah replied as she stood up straight. "Nothing a few pops of pain meds won't fix."

"I called AC and Victor," Oliver said as he got out of his chair. "They should be here by tomorrow night, so try to take it easy in the interim okay? They can handle patrolling for a little while."

"What are you planning on doing?"

After filing away a stack of papers into his desk, Oliver headed towards the clockface. Pulling the sides apart, he inspected his gear, now clear of blood residue from that fateful night. Dinah was right; he hadn't slept at all last night, as he cleaned most of his equipment while keeping an ear out for Chloe, who had anything but an easy night. Every hour, she would cry out in her sleep, so Oliver stayed close, so he could get to her quickly, tell her that it was just a dream. But that didn't erase the reality from her brain, as it continued throughout the night, and the only word to come from her shaking lips was _Sorry_.

Dinah marked his silence as she leaned against the entryway. "Oliver?"

"She was there for me," Oliver replied as he filtered his fingers through his vest, "even when she knew I killed Lex. I'm not abandoning her now."

She nodded, and walked over to him to place a hand on his shoulder. "We're all here for her too, you know, for both of you. You don't have to do this alone."

Letting out a slight grin, he managed, "I appreciate that."

Dinah got the hint, so she backed away. "Well, I've got a show to do. I'll try to check in later."

Oliver kept his head down, even though he could hear the clacking of her heels as she approached the elevator. "Thanks for stopping by," he said, hoping to catch her as he finally looked up.

Catching his glance, Dinah smiled. "It's the least I can do, right?" Shrugging before turning to open the gate, she added, "We all wished we could have handled this better."

**~0~**

Hearing the elevator gate open, Oliver lifted his head to see Victor and AC entering the penthouse. They shared grins before Oliver got up from the desk.

"Hey," AC greeted Oliver. "How're things?"

Not really sure how to answer, Oliver shrugged a shoulder, a gesture that caught Victor attention, prompting him to ask, "Is she still here?"

Oliver shook his head. "Emil took her to visit Bart... he was worried about her, but he's not allowed to speed around for a week."

"Yeah," Victor said with a scoff, "good luck with that one."

Oliver titled his head, understanding Victor's point. "Actually, Bart's taking Emil's advice seriously, which is a good sign." He sighed before adding, "I'm sorry for taking you guys away from—"

"Don't," AC replied. "This is a lot more important."

"Besides, we should have been here... for everyone." Victor caught Oliver's eyes, knowing that his implication wasn't lost on the older man. "Dinah told us about Lex, and while we agree that it certainly wasn't your brightest hour... you're still our leader."

Oliver looked over at AC, who just nodded, before looking back at Victor. "Thank you."

He sat his visitors on the couch, giving them an account of everything that had happened, including his plan to go against Clark, the subsequent fall-out and the surprising final act. AC asked about Clark, but there wasn't much to say. Two days and no word. That was as much of a goodbye as they were going to get, Oliver figured. He knew Clark was still out there somewhere, the man was practically impenetrable after all and while Doomsday was much the same, Oliver had to hold onto that hope, if nothing else for Chloe's sake especially since Lois went missing.

He had tried his best to track her down, including multiple calls to the police station, but no one there took him seriously. They all figured that Oliver wanted his ex-girlfriend back, that Oliver wasn't anything more than the papers claimed. So he resorted to posters on the streets, even through pouring rain, all for a sign. All he wanted was something positive he could tell Chloe to get her spirits up, because while there were signs of improvements, Clark's and Lois' disappearances were understandingly hitting her hard and he knew that she couldn't truly move forward without them.

So he sat in front of his teammates, wondering how they could still call him a leader after he had let them all down. But their reassurance gave him hope. Seeing their smiles over what they had accomplished away from Kansas allowed Oliver to realize that life does go on.

Eventually, Oliver found himself smiling as Victor told a story about how he busted AC out of prison, which brought up a memory of 'tin cans', a time where the team had a sounder foundation, not that the girls had caused the problems. What caused the tension were the problems themselves. Doomsday hit a little too close to home, and especially since it came so close to Oliver's murder of Lex, the drama and tension had overflowed. But Oliver would make this right, no matter what it took. He owed his teammates that much.

Suddenly, the three men heard her voice. "Victor? AC? What are you guys doing here?"

AC got off the couch first to hug Chloe, who had just emerged from the elevator. Giving her a cocky grin as he backed away, he replied, "Covering the streets while everyone heals up."

Poking his head into her eyesight, Victor asked, "How are you Chloe?"

"Better than before?" She shrugged as she tried to seem optimistic, but it wasn't happening. Bart had gotten her to smile, but walking from his place had restored her solemn mood. Even though much of the destruction had been cleaned up, there were still windows that needed to be replaced, cars that had seen better days and numerous closed-down businesses. As much as Chloe hated to admit it, the subtle reminder was enough to bring her guilt back to the surface.

Seeing three pairs of eyes staring at her out of concern, Chloe shrugged again. "Sorry, it hasn't been the easiest of weeks."

"Well," AC said, trying to lighten the mood, "we were hoping to catch some dinner. Arrow's paying of course, but Victor here has been killing me with the cyber jargon."

"What can I say?" Victor added, matching AC's smile. "The guys just don't get it."

Oliver wanted to say something to convince her to go, but the way she bit her bottom lip made him realize that there wasn't much he could say. To her credit, Chloe had managed the tiniest of smiles before she replied, "Thanks guys, but... I'm not hungry... you guys go ahead."

"I've got a mountain-load of paperwork anyway. The..." Oliver wanted to say that the devastation had affected Queen Industries too, but he knew that wouldn't help anyone. "I've let this stack slide a little too long."

Unfortunately, Chloe saw right through his cover attempt, and walked silently by the guys.

"Great," Oliver said quietly before looking back at the other guys. "Rain check on dinner okay? I mean, feel free to stick around, but..."

"We got it," Victor said, cutting him off. "See you around Oliver."

Oliver nodded at both men before heading towards the guest bedroom that Chloe had been using since Doomsday. He had considered driving back to the Talon, but as long as Lois was missing, Oliver couldn't do that to Chloe. He refused to let her feel alone again, that she had been abandoned by everyone.

Knocking lightly on the door, Oliver heard no response, so he opened it slightly. "Chloe? It's just me."

When she didn't say anything, Oliver opened the door further and sat next to her on the bed. Looking at Chloe, he watched as she stared out the window, the light bringing life into her features.

Chloe took a single breath before bowing her head. "How much?"

"How much what?"

"How much damage to your company?"

He replied honestly, "Nothing we can't recover Chloe. It's more paperwork than anything, everything will be fine soon."

Her hair covered her eyes, so Oliver couldn't see her expression, but he could hear the anxiety in her voice as she said, "Stop sugar-coating it."

"I'm not, I know you better than that. One of our factories got destroyed, but aside from that, it's easily fixable. No casualties that I'm aware of either." Seeing her nod, Oliver asked, "How's Bart?"

"His solution for a headache is to eat a cookie...classic Impulse as far as I'm concerned." That statement was followed by a single chuckle, but the humour in her eyes died in seconds. "Did you know Clark's phone is disconnected?"

"Dinah mentioned trying to call him."

"Why would he leave? I know I told him to forget about me, but that was in the past."

Oliver tried to reassure her, "I'm sure he has a good reason."

"I just," Chloe paused as she shuffled fully on the bed to face Oliver straight on. "I want to know for sure that he's alive you know. There weren't any out of the ordinary saves last night, and we never got any notification that he got out of the explosion."

Oliver could see where she was going with this, so he stopped her, because as much as he didn't want to mislead her, the least Oliver could do was give Chloe hope. "This is Clark we're talking about. He's probably just tying up some loose ends."

Rolling her eyes, Chloe sighed. "When did you become Mr. Optimism?"

A valid question, but one Oliver had an answer for. Placing a hand on her knee, Oliver tried to find her eyes. "When someone convinced me when I hit rock bottom that I actually hit rock bottom, meaning there was no way things could get worse."

"That was a big lie."

"No offence, but you were right about me, about Lex." Oliver's stare moved to his hands, and he thought about the struggle he faced after he murdered Lex, what he did with his own hands. There wasn't anyone else to blame, it was his fault and his fault alone. That was why it was so easy for him to say, "That internal torture hurts more than any of this."

"That's because this is all my fault."

Oliver shook his head, knowing that Chloe would say something along those lines. "There are way too many factors to even begin to point fingers for what happened."

"Even if you're right...it doesn't make it any easier."

"It never is," Oliver replied, removing his hand from her, "just remember that the only murderer in this room is me."

That activated something out of Chloe that he hadn't expected. She leaned forward and grabbed his arm, hoping he'd turn back to look at her. "Come on Ollie, there's no reason to say that." When nothing had happened, she looked back out the window, sighing once more. "Besides, even that isn't true."

"It was Brainiac, Chloe," Oliver half-heartedly replied.

Without hesitation, Chloe fired back, "I'm not so sure about that."

Her admission had shocked Oliver, because even though he had accused her otherwise in the past, part of him always assumed that Brainiac could have been a possibility.

Seeing his reaction, Chloe added, "I think there was an element in me that wanted to do that... to make sure Clark's secret was safe." Getting up from the bed, Chloe walked over to the window and analyzed the city around her. Even though it was before nightfall, the skyline seemed incomplete without Clark. Even though her romantic ideals for him were gone, Clark was always a part of her life, and the idea of him not being around right now hurt more than Chloe wanted to admit.

"I'd do anything he asked and... now he's gone."

Realizing they had come full circle, Oliver made sure to choose his next words carefully. "Well, just know that you haven't lost everything... and you haven't lost every_one _either."

"I know," was her reply, which came out in a subtle whisper. "It's just that... best friend, closest cousin... you'd figure they'd stick around, or even check in." Knowing Oliver would likely interject, Chloe added, "I know there's been no leads on Lois, I heard you leave two voicemails."

"Chloe you were—"

"How am I supposed to sleep Oliver?" She turned around with an expression of hurt on her face. "I get an hour, maybe two and..." her voice trailed as she worked her fingers together to form a gun, mockingly shooting it. "Bang."

Not allowing her to re-live that memory longer than she had to, Oliver covered her hands with his own. "It gets better," he replied as he lowered their hands, eyes not leaving hers. "I know it sounds crazy, but eventually... life goes on. You find a purpose and soon the pain fades away."

"What was yours?"

Oliver took in a breath, knowing to expect such a question at some point, but knew that he had to tread carefully if he wanted Chloe to believe him. "You were the first person who could look me in the eye after finding out what I did. Sure, there was that sense of animosity, but you didn't give up on me because you still saw the hero in me."

Closing his eyes momentarily, Oliver remembered the days where he'd see Lex's face no matter where he looked, so he broke the glass with his fist, or he'd throw a glass against it. It was Chloe who had noticed the gashes in his hands and told Oliver to move forward, be the leader she knew he was. It was Chloe who reminded him that Oliver no longer had time to toss around glasses or go near the alcohol that filled them because the world needed him.

"All I know is...you didn't deserve to sacrifice your life like that, especially considering what you sacrificed already."

Finally looking back at her, noticing how her mouth had opened due to his confession, Chloe soon shook it off. "But you were right... we should have killed him."

"For all we know, he was immortal Chloe. With Clark's krypto-stuff, anything's possible. Patting her hands as he released them, Oliver added, "Besides, we all know we can't exactly press the undo button. We just have to learn from our mistakes."

Chloe let out a chuckle, walking around him carefully to sit on the bed again. "Out of everyone that I knew... I never expected you to take this position. Seeing your walls come down like this, Oliver Queen admit faults and so on, it's a different perspective... but not a bad one."

Oliver grinned as he took a couple steps towards her, but decided against sitting next to her to allow Chloe to have her space. "Well, don't get used to it."

"Wasn't planning on it, but... thanks Ollie. This means more than you know."

"As long as you start to feel better, okay?"

"I'm getting there."

Nodding, Oliver walked over to the door, pausing in the doorway to say, "If you need anything..."

"I know where to go," Chloe finished confidently as she watched him close the door,

Things weren't perfect, that much Chloe could say with ease, but she had people there for her, looking out for her. Sure, part of it was because they felt guilty or obligated, but whenever Chloe was around Oliver, she sensed concern in everything he did for her. Furthermore, hearing that she was the reason he turned his life around, Chloe couldn't help but feel a small sense of pride.

Then there's Bart, who even with a concussion, went out of his way to lift her spirits. Emil, who called to offer an ear of support if she needed. Dinah offered a girl's night out when she felt up to it and finally there was Victor and AC who had dropped everything to make things easier.

So even though life wasn't perfect, and Chloe couldn't sleep, there were signs that Oliver was right. It would get better.


	4. Comfortably Numb, Part Three

**Part 3**

"Tada," Oliver said with his arms stretched out, eyes watching Chloe as she looked around, hoping it would lift her spirits, even just the slightest. Sure, Chloe coming back to work wasn't exactly the ideal way to heal, but the way Oliver saw it, it at least gave her something to look forward to. The room, the whole building in fact, was a fixer-upper, but with any luck, it could allow Chloe to forget the Isis building, forget that night, and move on.

"It's not much, but in no time, it could be paradise for you. A bigger database, updated software, but even more than that... this could be like a home for our team." He emphasized the word home, hoping it would bring something out of her, but Oliver was having a hard time reading what was going through her mind. It had only been a week and a half since the debacle, and they had shared their up-and-downs, but seeing her nod was enough for Oliver to think that he had done something right.

Turning his head as he walked over to a different area of the room, Oliver noticed she hadn't moved, so he announced, "I've got Dinah and AC scouting out couches to fill out this area, and there are even a couple lofts upstairs in case you decide to work late."

He looked at her for an answer, any combination of words, but the truth is Chloe was struggling to determine what word could possible suffice for this gesture. Finally, she managed, "It's... nice," only to immediately roll her eyes immediately before she edited her word choice. "Actually it's incredible... but you don't have to do this for me."

That was classic Chloe as far as Oliver was concerned, always underestimating what she thought she deserved. But he had been expecting it, so he had the grocery list ready. "Victor gets all of the neat updates, Dinah the free airfare for her talk show, AC gets the hassle-free jail bailouts... and Bart gets essentially an all-you-can-eat buffet," Oliver stopped upon hearing her laugh, grateful that was the reaction that comment received. "It's only fair that I find something to say thanks for all you do."

She nodded, walking over to the window, admiring the view she saw outside. "The city's beautiful from up here." Not that the window itself was shabby, as the stained glass gave it a welcoming quality, for while it was clear there was work to be done, it was one of those places with potential, and Chloe was far from not being grateful of the lengths Oliver and the team had gone to make her feel better.

She then heard footsteps coming towards her, so she turned her head slightly to see Oliver standing next to her. Staring into her eyes, he said, "I was hoping you'd like it."

Seeing the smile that she gave him, Oliver couldn't help but grin back. It was truly another step in the right direction, something he never took for granted. "You can come here anytime you want, Victor and Bart are going to transfer everything here, but it's not just a workplace for you."

Ruffling his fingers through his hair, Oliver added, "You're probably getting sick of me, so with any luck you'll have this place so you don't always have to drive back to Smallville."

"Don't sell yourself so short, Oliver," Chloe replied as she looked out the window again. "You're not bad company."

He chuckled at the humour in her voice, but he also was relieved to know she felt that way about him. "I'd be a crappy CEO if I was." Expression turning more serious, Oliver rested his hand on her shoulder, noticing her immediate reaction to his contact. "This isn't me pushing you back to work Chloe, you can take a break for as long as you need. You can stay at the clocktower as long as you want to as well."

These were things Chloe knew, because Oliver had pretty much made that clear from day one, but it still reassuring for her to hear that he hadn't gotten sick of her yet. Her smile widening, she said happily, "Thank you."

For a second, Oliver was lost in the smile that framed her face, so much that he didn't hear his phone ring across the room.

Confused by the expression on his face, Chloe eyed him curiously, before tilting her head towards the ringing. "You getting that?"

It was enough for Oliver to come back to reality, running to catch it before it went to voicemail. Watching him answer the phone, Chloe held back rolling her eyes as she admired the view again. Oliver had really out-done himself this time, as standing here felt like she was breathing new air again, like she could really move forward.

"Duty calls," Oliver called out, causing Chloe to turn and face him, "but feel free to stick around."

She watched him approach the doors without a further word when she realized that she had forgotten to tell him something. "Wait," Chloe said seconds before he left the room. "I never thanked you… for this I mean."

Turning his head to look at her, he replied, "It's no problem Chloe. I'll see you later."

**~0~**

Still nothing.

It had been a slow day at Queen Industries, so Oliver let everyone off a couple hours early so he could continue his search of Lois, hoping to find something, but that wasn't the case. It been over two weeks now, and the cops weren't too optimistic, not to mention they weren't overly pleased with the daily calls they started receiving from Chloe, but Oliver didn't care. As far as he was concerned, Chloe looking for Lois was a good sign.

Hearing the elevator chain working, Oliver got up from his desk to greet his visitor when instead, all he got was a blur and a voice coming from the other side of the room. "Chloelicious, I bring tulips."

"She's at Watchtower," Oliver called back, wanting to save Bart the trouble of looking for her in the penthouse

"Now?" Bart zipped back to where Oliver was with a curious look on his face. He hadn't seen Chloe since she had come to visit him, and while he knew about Watchtower, Bart was surprised that Chloe was back working again.

Oliver just shrugged. "She's taking a liking to the place. Victor brought some of the stuff from Isis and she's working again because Emil was strict on you getting better." He smiled as he let out a deep breath. "I think she's coming back to us."

Bart's eyes widened at those words, as he always trusted Oliver's judgment, and Chloe coming back was probably the best news he had received all week, even more so than the fact he could speed around again. "That's great."

Oliver looked back at him and nodded, before gesturing his hand between the room they were in and the one Bart zipped to. "So you've been cleared by Emil?"

"When I didn't listen to him, I ran into a brick wall and added a week to my recovery time." Bart shook his head as he remembered all the tests he had to endure… twice thanks to his own ignorance. "Trust me, not doing that again."

"Well... now that you're back on your feet, I was hoping you could help me with something."

Bart quickly nodded. "_Anything_. I'm going to go crazy if I sit around for much longer."

**~0~**

As the floor numbers increased, Chloe exhaled loudly, leaning her head against the elevator wall. "Thanks for today, I really needed to do that."

"It's what friends are for, right?"

Yes, but Chloe had been used to the one-way street for too long. The fact Oliver had been willing to drive her all the way to Smallville to pick up some things at the Talon meant more than she could ever express. It was eerie without Lois there, but having Oliver there made it more normal, and kept Chloe from freaking out about her cousin's disappearance.

The elevators opened, so they walked down the hallway to Watchtower together, but as Chloe opened the doors, she noticed the lights flicker on before she had a chance to hit the switch.

"Surprise," rung throughout the room as Chloe looked around again, trying to recognize the room she had spent so much time in, yet looked nothing like it. It had been painted over, and the amount of equipment had easily doubled in the day, not to mention the new furniture in the other areas.

"When... how...?" At this point, Chloe was in complete shock.

"Thank Oliver," Dinah said, as she hugged Chloe, "he had the stuff in storage... he was just waiting until Bart got better to bring it here."

Oliver stepped in front of both women and asked, "What do you think?"

"You," she said staring at Oliver, but turned to looked at everyone else, "You guys didn't have to do all this..."

"Yeah... we did," Bart countered as he dragged Chloe towards the stack of pizzas. "You deserve this, 'Licious, trust me."

Staring at everyone, at the general agreement on their faces, Chloe gave in and opened a pizza box. "Then let's eat."

Hearing that, Bart quickly dug in, and the others followed suit, surrounding Chloe, asking how she was. She glanced up and caught Oliver's glance as he still stood across the room. Seeing her, seeing this, Oliver couldn't help but break out a grin. It wasn't perfect, but they looked like a team again, something he couldn't say a couple weeks ago. The kinks were starting to disappear and he really thought they could move forward from this.

Eventually, Chloe called out, "Come on Ollie… grab a slice before Bart eats it all."

"And I will," Bart added as he tried to grab a slice, but Chloe slapped his hand before giving him an unapologetic look.

Oliver's grin, meanwhile, grew wider as he grabbed the piece Bart tried to eat when he heard someone's phone vibrating. It was Chloe's, and while she wasn't sure who it was, she answered it quickly before taking off to the other side of the room.

Everyone else had stopped what they were doing to subtly look in her direction, noticing her eyes light up at one point, hoping that was a good thing, confirmed by her smile after she hung up. "That was Met Gen… Lois was checked in a half hour ago…. she's unconscious, but they say she's going to be alright."

Chloe walked to grab her purse and then went to leave when Oliver stopped her. "We're going with you."

"No… you guys set this all up, I'm fine."

"This gives us more reason to celebrate later on," Bart reasoned, more than content to back Oliver up.

Smirking, Dinah added as she grabbed her own purse, "Besides, Lois will be happy to see… well, most of us."

After looking at AC and Victor, who seemed awfully quiet, but were nodding anyway, Chloe shrugged. "Okay, let's go."

**~0~**

_This was it_, Chloe thought. Right around the corner was her cousin, someone she and Oliver had spent weeks trying to find, and never found a lead. Yet, Chloe couldn't help but feel nervous. The nurse said that Lois was in a coma, what did that mean? Where had she been to end up this way?

"You doing alright?" Bart's familiar voice asked. He had personally volunteered to be her personal chauffeur to the hospital, figuring that Chloe wanted to get there as soon as possible. She had appreciated the offer, but for some reason, she wanted to be alone when she saw Lois.

"Bart... could you grab me a soda from the machine?"

He nodded. "Anything for you beautiful."

Once he disappeared from her sight Chloe turned the corner, and decided this was a good sign. Her life was starting to come back together, and Lois would only help that. However, when she entered the doorway, Chloe just about had a heart attack.

Three weeks he had been gone. No word, no calls, no email attempts, nothing. Yet here he sat, across from her cousin, flowers in a vase inches from where he sat. It was like he never left.

"You... you have _got _to be kidding me!" Chloe exclaimed, quieter than she expected.

Clark turned, and tried out his boyish smile, but then his expression hardened and he said, "Chloe I can exp—"

"GET OUT!"

She almost shocked herself upon hearing the harshness in her voice, and watching Clark's face fall further barely let her hold her resolve. Fortunately, her message was clear, so he got out of the chair to walk past Chloe, but she stopped him momentarily. "I needed you Clark... I called so many times, and no answer, no reason for why you decided to drop off the face of the planet." Releasing his arm, Chloe added, "I just can't see you right now... not like this."

"I found this on Lois," Clark replied as he held out the Legion ring.

Chloe took it hesitatingly, whispered her thanks as she entered the hospital room fully. It was through her cousin's name and the beeping of the IV that reminded Chloe of the whole reason she was in the hospital, as Clark wasn't the only one who had been gone. However, something told her that Lois had a better excuse.

Staring at the ring in her hand, she grabbed Lois' hand, only one thought on her mind. "Where were you cuz?"

What Chloe had forgotten was that she wasn't alone at the hospital. At the doorway stood Bart, who had a tough decision on his hands. He had heard everything, and knew that Oliver caught a glimpse of Clark right now, it wouldn't be pretty. No one expected to see him here, especially now.

He took a final look back at Chloe before he zipped back to the entrance, hoping he'd beat Clark there so he could convince him to leave another way. Unfortunately, by the time he got there, Clark was nowhere to be found, but the other guys were approaching the entrance, so Bart decided that it would be better to stall them.

Fittingly, Oliver was the first to react. "Bart, what are you doing here? You're supposed to keep Chloe company."

Scrambling for an excuse, Bart settled on the reason he left Chloe in the first place. "I figured she deserved a little alone time with Lois."

Pointing towards his hand, Dinah raised an eyebrow. "And you felt the need to fuel up?"

Bart had almost forgotten about the pop can, but it provided an easy way out, so he shrugged as he chugged it down. "You know me."

Victor rolled his eyes. "See you inside."

Noticing that his plan wasn't exactly working, Bart zipped in front of the doors. "I was thinking along the lines of actual space."

"Dude, we're not allowing you to have alone time with Chloe right now. She's finally—" AC stopped talking as he noticed who was walking out of the hospital. "Oh."

Bart squeezed his eyes shut and dashed out of the glare fest Clark and Oliver were likely having.

Oliver broke the silence first, after he shook his head in disappointment. "Of course you show up now."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Oliver pulled out his phone and began to scroll through his past calls, counting out the times he had tried to reach out to Clark. "You would know what that meant if you checked your phone recently." At least ten calls that he could find, but what scared him was that didn't even include the multiple times Chloe called Clark. Shoving his phone back into his pocket, Oliver looked back at Clark. "But you disconnected it, right before you disconnected yourself from your life."

"I don't have time for this," Clark replied as he tried to get away, but Oliver's voice stopped him.

"Then why come back?"

"I just wanted to make sure Lois was safe after the mono-rail crash. I transferred each of the survivors to the hospital, but... Chloe saw me in her hospital room." Clark dipped his head as he remembered her expression and the conviction that she showed in her outburst. "No worries, she made it perfectly clear that she didn't want to see me."

"Well, after she spent weeks looking for you, hoping for a sign that you were even alive, only to see you come back for Lois... what was she supposed to think?" Oliver had seen the lows of Chloe's inferiority complex, and he knew that seeing herself once again become second-best in Clark's eyes, even for Lois' sake, would hurt.

"I figured that she'd understand that I needed to commit to my training. It's my fault my best friend's a... killer," Clark said, lowering his voice for the final word.

Oliver stood there, dumbfounded over the words he had just heard. "You knew? You knew and you _still _left?" A million words were going through his mind, but Oliver bit his tongue in an attempt to maintain his composure. Everyone around him could practically see the smoke coming out of his ears, but with a single breath, Oliver found his words. "We all screwed up, Clark, but we've been working really hard to fix what we caused. But not you... you turn your back on everything that matters to you, including the one person you could always rely on."

Clark finally snapped. "It's not that easy for me! I can't let my human emotions block out my destiny."

Everyone expected Oliver to snap back, but instead, he remained relatively calm in his body language and tone. "You aren't _destined _to work alone Clark... life should have told you that." Oliver scoffed before adding, "Heck, you should have learned from me. It was because we worked together that we even got through Doomsday."

"Uh guys." Everyone turned to look at AC, who had been quiet throughout the entire exchange, "I hate to barge in, but this is so not the place for this conversation."

"AC's right," Oliver replied, "but know that it's been a long three weeks, and we just barely got Chloe back. If you're here to stay, if Lois is a good enough reason for you to come back, then make darn sure that you won't go away again. Otherwise...you might as well leave now. Neither of them deserves that."

Clark nodded, and then wasted no time in using his opening to zip away from the guys.

Watching the tension dissapate, they started heading for the hospital entrance when Dinah realized that Oliver hadn't moved from his spot. "Are you..."

"You guys go ahead. I don't want her to see me like this, so tell her I dropped you off and I'm parking the car."

Without a word, they entered the hospital, leaving Oliver outside. He really should have seen this coming, as things were almost going _too_ smoothly. Chloe was strong, so Oliver knew she'd get through this eventually, but this process was hard enough without a bumbling alien making things more difficult. Even though Clark's heritage was the furthest thing from his understanding, but he could never understand how Clark could just leave Chloe without saying goodbye at the least.

All Oliver could hope for was that Lois' re-emergence would bring some jump back in her step.

* * *

><p><em>Sera's Scribbles: I am so sorry, but this week has been, and this month will be, positively INSANE! (yes, the caps are necessary). I have a crazy RL schedule (group projects, papers, and finals oh my!), so be patient with me, but I have every intention of finishing this.<em>

_Oh, and to those waiting for the sequel of "Notbroken," it hasn't been forgotten, it's just dependent on my beta's access to a computer._


	5. Comfortably Numb, Part Four

**Part 4**

Oliver had hoped that after a few days Chloe would go back to normal, or at least, a sense of normal since they had run into Clark at the hospital. However, it had been over a week, and that idea seemed the furthest thing from the truth. While she had embraced the gift of Watchtower, Chloe had also gone into overdrive, setting up the database, helping the team during patrolling, likely only taking a break to get her coffee to keep herself awake.

She had called the whole team over last night to confirm the proper elevator protocols before the really sensitive stuff was stored in Watchtower, so he knew that he shouldn't just stand here, watching her, worrying about her. Chloe knew he was there, but she didn't address him, as her fingers continued to click against the keyboard. In Oliver's mind, that was only part of the problem.

But he knew he couldn't stand there forever. If nothing else, the coffee he bought her would get cold. Walking up next to her, Oliver put the cup down, seeing her eyes light up momentarily. He was glad that he could still bring that expression to her face, as for that same time, Chloe had slept in Watchtower, probably not wanting to take advantage of his hospitality. Or at least... that would be how she would see it.

"Thank you," she said, putting the cup down after a long sip. Her last coffee had been finished over an hour ago, and as usual, Oliver's timing seemed to be spot on, as she was about to head out and get one.

'How's the database coming?"

"It's getting there. Now that the proper security protocols are in place, it's just a matter of transferring the files from Isis to here." Chloe swallowed hard, grabbing her coffee again to feel justified in her next swallow. "Remind me to thank Vic again for running that errand." He was about the only one Chloe trusted to do it, because as silly as it felt to admit, Oliver was right about one thing. She couldn't go back to Isis anymore.

Seeing Chloe's expression continue to fall, Oliver tried to change the subject. "How's Lois doing?" Despite his suspicions of her sleeping habits, there was a part of him that hoped that the Talon wasn't crossed off for her places to visit too, especially now that it wasn't empty anymore.

That was one of the more positive things that had happened in awhile, Lois grabbing her things and moving back with Chloe. But from the way her face remained stoic, Oliver knew that things weren't quite sunshine and roses.

"She's Blur-hunting." Chloe pursed her lips, trying to hold back a scoff. "Apparently Clark still talks to somebody after all."

Oliver rolled his eyes, mostly because he knew that Chloe couldn't see it. While her best friend status with Clark was questionable at best these days, Oliver didn't want to jump to conclusions either. "That's his loss."

This time, Chloe couldn't silence her scoff. "Is it really?"

"Well," Oliver replied, placing his hand on her shoulder, watching as her eyes looked over the same shoulder to meet his. "It's definitely our gain."

Chloe knew that he meant every word, and it was that knowledge that allowed the smallest of grins to sneak out. When he matched it, Chloe inhaled quickly, turning back to the computer. "Anyway, she's still Lois, so I'll never be completely off her radar. She wants to catch up... but I'm not sure what to tell her, especially because she wants to know how I lost Davis."

"What did you tell her?"

"That he's no longer a problem," Chloe said with a sigh. "His file is practically non-existent at the police thanks to the mayhem of that night and I don't exactly feel like explaining everything."

With Lois, that wouldn't be enough, Oliver knew that, but the situation wasn't the easiest to explain. He could offer to talk to Lois, but Oliver knew that would probably solve even less. That's when Oliver realized that there was no need to over-complicate things. "If she asks, I'll maintain your story, have the guys back you up too."

"Huh?"

Oliver merely shrugged as he recognized the confusion on her face. "Davis is no longer a problem. How and why don't matter now."

Chloe nodded. "Right."

Sensing a close on that conversation, Oliver decided to reveal the real reason for his visit. "So... I was thinking, it's a nice day and you probably could use a bit more to eat than your morning blueberry bagel." She stopped working again, clearly not sure where he was going with this. "Lunch on me, how does that sound?"

To Chloe, it sounded incredibly sweet, but there was no way she could leave Watchtower right now. In fact, his timing was oddly perfect in more ways than one. "Can't Ollie." She saw him frown, but she wasn't fazed by it, pulling up the picture she had noticed in the monorail crash photos. "Let's just say Lois wasn't the only one who mysteriously appeared on the monorail."

Oliver's head jerked back. "What?"

"Lois was jabbering something about a ninja lady at the hospital. I initially thought she hit her head too hard, but... then I found this."

He watched as Chloe effortlessly zoomed in on the marks on the wall. It took a second, but after a squint of his eyes, Oliver stepped forward to confirm his suspicions. "Scorch marks?"

"They're Kryptonian, I'm sure of it."

For something like that, Oliver knew he was best to trust her judgement. When it came to out-of-this-world phenomena, he was still trying to catch up. "Do you think that she's trying to get Clark's attention?"

Chloe merely shrugged as she minimized the photos, bringing back up what she needed. "No sign of the showdown yet, but I'm keeping an eye out."

Oliver looked outside, reminding himself of the time of day, and the small chance Clark would be out right now. "Likely nothing until after dark though, so I don't think you should say no to a free lunch."

Sound logic, but it wasn't enough to sway Chloe. She had too much work to do. "No, I'm... not really that hungry actually. Thanks though."

"Okay, but if you change your mind..."

"I'll call you." Hearing his footsteps retreat, she felt a hint of guilt, but she swallowed it back with another sip of her coffee. However, she broke the silence before he reached the door. "And Ollie?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you... keep an eye on the streets for me?" She hated asking him for another favour, but Oliver was her only option for patrolling right now. "Vic and AC have their own missions to attend to, Dinah's out of town and I don't want to rush Bart back into the field."

Oliver was tempted to shake his head, as he wanted to tell her that she didn't have to explain herself. But he held it back and told her what she wanted to hear, which fortunately coincided with the truth. "Sure, I'll be here."

**~0~**

Hearing the door open to the Talon, Chloe looked up from her work just as her cousin entered the room. "Hey Lois." When Lois didn't say anything back, Chloe added, "You're in late. Hot story?"

Lois scoffed as she placed her purse on the counter. "Yes, but to be honest cuz, I'm surprised you're even here."

Chloe narrowed her eyes at that comment, but continued to type away before saying her remark. "Live here, remember?"

"Yeah, but you've been oddly absent all week." Chloe felt Lois sit down beside her, so she changed what she was working on before facing her. Lois saw the quick movement and looked at Chloe with concern. "What's going on with you?"

Chloe tried to shrug it off, because she was fine. Sure, a couple bumps here and there, but overall, her days were getting a lot easier. "Nothing... just a lot of late nights working, I guess."

"Where?"

She rolled her eyes, as Chloe hoped Lois would finally believe her when she said, "I told you, Ollie sold the Isis office and while I still run it, he has me working software freelance work for him whenever I have time."

Unfortunately, that didn't help convince Lois in any way. Her expression hadn't changed because it didn't explain the late hours, or the fact that Lois had no idea where her office was these days. Chloe would hide everything with a smirk or a clichéd comment, so Lois couldn't help but be concerned at this point. But Lois also knew there was no point pushing the issue, so she tried the simplest question she had. "Okay, but where the heck are you sleeping?"

Chloe hadn't been sleeping, or at least, not much. She'd take the couches at Watchtower if she needed an hour of shut-eye, otherwise she would use coffee to keep her going. But of course, it wasn't like Chloe could tell Lois that. "Ollie offers one of his spare bedroom on nights I work late."

Lois' head jerked back upon hearing that response. "I didn't realize you and Oliver became so close."

"We're friends right?" Chloe sighed again as she closed up the laptop and headed for bed. "He insists, as the late-night jobs are the reasons I'm up so late, that I'm not driving home tired."

It was mostly the truth, as he had been looking out for her, but lately, Chloe was keeping him at an arms-length distance. She wasn't sure why, initially it was because she didn't need to be babysat, but even Chloe knew that wasn't the case anymore. Something had changed in their dynamic, and for some reason, Chloe was trying to prevent that change, even if it was positive, from happening.

**~0~**

Lois knew that what she was about to was overstepping, but she was tired of being treated with kids gloves. There was something clearly going on and Lois wanted to get down to the bottom of it once and for all. She only hoped that Oliver would provide the answers.

Walking up to his receptionist, Lois was able to worm her way to see him right away, so she wasted little time. After opening the door, she took a few steps towards his desk, clearing her throat when she stopped in front of it.

That reaction got Oliver to look up, his familiar smile forming as he pulled back his chair. "Long time no see Legs."

"Legs," Lois asked, raised eyebrow as she crossed her arms. "Really?" He hadn't used that nickname in a long time, but then again, for Oliver, it had been a long time since they had seen each other.

"What can I help you with?" he asked, reminding himself that he never did visit her in the hospital. He had meant to, but there was so much going on that he never had time. That, and whenever he saw the hospital, he thought about how he felt about what Clark had done. Because of that, Oliver never did end up in her hospital room that night, as he decided to remain outside to ensure he was okay when he saw Chloe again.

However, he knew that his behaviour was also unfair to Lois, as she didn't do anything to deserve that. Seeing her now, Oliver realized that maybe he could make that up to her now.

He could give her just about anything, anything except what she actually wanted.

"It's Chloe... she seems distracted." Lois watched as Oliver's mouth opened, an expression she knew too well. "And don't play dumb. I know I missed three weeks, but I read about the wreckage. I'm just wondering how it relates to my cousin."

"What did she tell you?"

"That she's getting better, that Davis Bloome was one of the people who died, and that Clark is nowhere to be found because he's visiting cousins in Iowa."

Oliver pretended to consider the story for a second, as he was slightly surprised that Lois had even answered his question, but maybe that was just a sign of how desperate she was. Unfortunately, filling in those blanks with the answers she wanted would only led to more questions. "I'm not sure what I'm supposed to tell you."

Lois gritted her teeth at his nonchalance. It was the first sign that he was lying to her, as he could use that line on the paparazzi, on strangers, but she knew him too well. "No, you don't do this, not with me. Not when you've left me god knows how many messages about her. So I know this isn't nothing, it's the opposite of –"

She took her eyes away from him for a second, recognizing today's _Daily Planet_ on the table, the story of Green Arrow stopping a bank robbery last night. "Of course, she knows, doesn't she?"

"What?"

"Ollie," Lois said as she picked up the paper, pointing her finger at the article. "She works with you. That's why she won't tell me everything… because it protects you and your team."

He wanted to lie to Lois, but she had seen through every attempt to lie before and right now, even he knew that his expression betrayed him. "Something like that."

He had closed his eyes, waiting for her barrage of questions, but instead, Lois said, "Okay."

"Okay?" he repeated, his eyes popping open in response.

Lois chuckled slightly at his surprise. She couldn't blame him for that, as she did want more answers, but she decided to at least settle for the reason why she wasn't getting them. "I trust you Oliver. I know you wouldn't hurt Chloe and even though you're clearly keeping something from me, if that means you're protecting her, then okay."

"Thanks Lois," he said, taking her hand in his.

**~0~**

If there was one thing that Chloe liked about Watchtower, it was that she was getting used to silence again. She could cancel out the noise around her, the noise in her head and focus on getting the job done. Even if the mystery assassin was nowhere to be found, it gave her a distraction, it reminded her of why she did this.

However, there were certain sounds that she couldn't ignore, especially when the source of it should be resting up. "Bart, you need to –" For a second, Chloe thought her heart had actually stopped upon seeing who actually stood in front of her. "Clark."

He tried to smile, but seeing the way her expression continued to sour, he decided to cut to the chase. "I… wanted to apologize."

Chloe scoffed before turning back towards the screen. "Okay, apology accepted." She kept an ear out for the familiar whoosh, the reliable hope that Clark would leave, but for once in his life, he didn't.

He stayed right where he was, hoping that he could find a way for his best friend to look at him again. "You were right... I shouldn't have left. At least not the way I did."

Knowing that she couldn't ignore him forever, Chloe closed her eyes as her head dipped down. "Then why did you?" He could have done anything. He could have left after saying goodbye, he could have done _anything _except what he did.

Clark mirrored her actions, as his gaze met his feet before giving her the best answer he could. "I felt guilty." He couldn't find himself to regret his actions entirely, but if he had done something sooner, then maybe Chloe wouldn't have had to kill Davis. In a way, he felt like he had failed her. Only when he came back to Metropolis did he realize that him leaving was the real failure.

"I needed you," Chloe reminded him, but the words felt different this time. At the hospital, she was in shock, she was too emotional, and she let her hopeless side show. This time, she wanted him to know that it wasn't as easy to walk back in her life and expect everything to be okay. "And I'm tired of this. I'm tired of fighting with you Clark." She scoffed after she spoke his name. "Or do I even call you that anymore?"

After a nod, Clark replied, "I'm back, Chloe. I'm going back to work tomorrow."

She bit the inside of her lip, wanting to be happy that her best friend had returned, but instead she still felt her anger rising. "Well, it's good to know that Lois means enough for you to make up your mind."

"Lois was my wake-up call, but she's not the only reason I'm back." It didn't look like it right now, but based on the fact that Chloe had left him access to this building, that meant there was a chance to repair their friendship. "I'm not expecting you to forgive and forget, I don't deserve that. With any luck, one day, we could have a fresh start."

Crossing her arms, Chloe broke eye contact, not sure what to say. After a sigh, she found her answer, "I'll need some time."

That was understandable in Clark's mind. He knew that he had hurt her, and that answer confirmed that there was hope here. "Whatever it takes, Chloe. I mean it."

"Sure you do," Chloe replied as he disappeared from her sight. It wasn't the first time he had said those words and let her down, and she was pretty sure it wouldn't be the last, but she had to hold onto that silver of hope.

* * *

><p><em>Sera's Scribbles: I could regret posting this, as I'm trusting a lot of the words I wrote years ago, probably more than I should because my writing has changed a lot since this story. But if I don't post something soon, I'm not sure I will ever come back to this story… and there's a lot of stuff that I actually like ahead. That said, the next part's not close, and I'm going to focus on a few other fics first… but I hope this pushes me to walk the walk instead of just talking the talk.<em>


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